Man fatally shot; 3 more shot later

December 28, 2008 12:00:00 AM PST

PACOIMA, Calif. --

Three people were reportedly shot midmorning Sunday in Pacoima, just two blocks from the scene of a murder earlier in the morning, police said. But detectives said they were not sure if the attacks were related. Police originally said five people were shot outside a small apartment building near Whiteman Airport, and that some of the victims had been driven in private vehicles to nearby Olive View Hospital. One person was treated there, and city paramedics also took two victims to hospitals.

As police sorted through the incident, they discovered that only three people had been injured. Police said all three were expected to survive.

LAPD Sgt. Sherri Egan said the mid-morning shootings have not been linked to a gang-related drive-by murder that happened in the neighborhood earlier in the morning, but that the two crimes were being investigated as possibly related.

She said the victims were travelling in two vehicles when they became lost on Osborne Street, two miles east of the Golden State (5) Freeway. "They pulled over here to try to reach the person they were trying to meet," she said.

While on the phone, the victims suddenly found themselves under gunfire and "everyone took off running," Egan said. She said the victims may be gang members, as they had gang tattoos.

At midday, officers had the area cordoned off and were taking pictures of a late-model pickup truck outside the apartment building at 12236 Osborne Place, near the intersection of Osborne Street and Osborne Place.

Detectives were trying to determine if the midmorning shooting was related to the killing of a man in his 20s, who was walking in the 12500 block of Correnti Street at 2 a.m., LAPD spokeswoman Norma Eisenman said. A dark- colored vehicle with three people inside pulled up and someone inside fired the deadly shot, she said.

The man died at the scene, and his name has not been released pending notification of his family.